REL 233 AMERICAN RELIGIONS

An introduction to the history of religion in the Americas, focusing on the Spanish colonization of Mexico and New Mexico, the emergence of evangelicalism after the American Revolution, the embrace of Christianity by black slaves, and the emergence of Afro-Caribbean religions such as Condomble and Vodou. From the Pueblo Revolt to the U.S. government's regulation of Native American religious dances on reservations, the course explores the ways in which religion is defined by kingdoms and states and redefined by practitioners, and how religions in the Americas are constantly on the move, participating in diasporas that connect Africa, South America, and North America. Students will consider the relationship of historical and ethnographic studies of religions with complicated histories based in oppression.